In 2012, arte_FITS.FOUNDATION proposed the production of a book that would capture through images and autobiographical accounts, the works and life of a man who has redesigned and transformed the spaces of Cuba, Mexico, and Puerto Rico. Thus, along with Foundation Priscilla & Federico Stubbe and Pontificia Catholic University of Puerto Rico’s School of Architecture, Poet of The Landscape was conceived as a homage to Cuban architectural landscape artist, Gabriel Bérriz. The narrative texts written by Pedro Reina Pérez and Luz Marie Rodríguez were intervened with poetry by Latin American writers while the book was designed by Lydimarie Aponte.

As part of Smart Art’s Collaborative Writer’s Series, we present Curator Marinelly Bello’s announcement for the publishing of Poet of the Landscape in December 2012.

Each garden is the result of a design that combines imagination, space, and life. Gabriel Bérriz has been the common element in some of Puerto Rico’s most transcendental architecture projects. His genius has combines earth, air, and water to produce gardens that reveal an extraordinary talent and exceptional originality.

The publication of the book El Poeta del Paisaje presents a unique opportunity to become part of a project that will be a work of collectable art and a true legacy for future generations.

The life and work of Gabriel Bérriz is reflected in each one of his projects. El Poeta del Paisaje will travel through his most emblematic gardens in order to weave together the string that sustains his personal and profesional history. The book will be the product of a series of interviews. It will collect autobiographical accounts and illustrate with profesional images each space, with quality graphic design… The book itself will act as a collection able object that will reflect in its esthetic and manufacture the genius if the spaces conceived by our own Poet of the Landscape, Gabriel Bérriz,